Identity theft hit 7% of US population last year

Almost 18 million people were victims of identity theft in the United States last year, with the majority of crimes targeting credit cards and bank accounts, the Department of Justice said Sunday.

The figure represents 7 percent of the U.S. population aged 16 or older and is a rise of 1 million people from 2012, the last year for which the DOJ's Bureau of Justice Statistics published a similar report.

The latest report counts instances where a person experienced misuse of a financial or other account -- not simply a breach of their personal information.